Fence



I. E. LOEFFLER.

FENCE.

APPLICATION FILED AFR I9. 19421.

Patented Sept. 12, 1922;

INVEN TOR-I Patented Sept. 12;, 1922.

I" 'il 'Jose-PH E. LonrrLnn, or sr. LOUIS, MISSOURI. .f

j rance.

Application fried April' 19, '1921. seriali No. 462,496@

new and usefullmprovement in Fences, of

which the following is a full, clear, and

exact description, such las willl enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to ,the accompanying drawings, forming part Vof this application. y

This invention relates to improvements in fences.' The-principal objects of the invention are: To provide a fence which can be4 quickly' and easilyerected;` which is inexpensive to maintain, and which can be readily repaired.

A further object of the invention is to lprovvide a fence in sections wherebysaid sections can be removed without.` dismantling or destroying any `portion oflthe fence.

' Another object of the invention is to provide an improved fence post having receiving sockets'arr'anged therein, the walls of which are divergent whereby the removable fence sections can be placed in position between their` respective fence posts after said posts are anchored in the ground.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, my 'invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter morey fully described and claimed,- and illustrated-in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspect've view of one of the fence posts. f

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a section 'of my improved fence.

Figure 3 is a horizontalsection takenon line '3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 isa front elevation of a modified form of my improved fence.

Figure 5 is a horizontal cross section on line 5 5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a' horizontal section taken on line 6 6 of Figure 2. l

Figure 7 is a vertical cross section taken on line 7 7 of Figure 6.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, 10 designates a fence post, preferably made of reinforced concrete. The side walls of the post are perpendicular while its front and rear Walls are tapered upwardly so as to provide a substantially massive base 10el which, when sunk in posiin upright position.

tion the ground, will maintain"`the post post `10 is formed a horizontall groove 11, one side wall of which is obliquely disposed, as indicated at 11a.. Thelower .portion of the post is provided immediately above the` ground line with a horizontally disposed slot 12, the-ends ofwhich .terminate in perpendicular side walls of the post. One side wall of this slot is obliquely disposed, as

indicated at 12a, and the angle of this r`side wall coincides with the angle of the oblique side wall l1a of groove' 11.l This? slot 12 is positioned slightlytowards vthe front wall of post 10fso asto be offset with'r'espect to a horizontal slot` 14 which is v.formed in the post 10- intermediately betweenthe slot*k 12 and the grooved upper end ofsaid post and is yprovided with obl-iquely disposed side wallsllla. u

vThe upper end ofthe-post 4arrar'igedito Infthe upper end of receive the upper longitudinally disposed s i fence rail`15 andthe slot-` 12 isdesigned to f receive the adjoining ends ofbaseboard 16,

`the latter forming the ground, or\base,fmember of theifence. f They intermediate sl0tj14 is. adapted to havelinserted therein the' ad- -joining ends of intermediate longitudinall fencefrails17. f v

Inerecting the fence, the lower ends of' posts 10-are sunlrinto the ground at determined distance from each other. i' This distance between the adjacent posts` is less than the length yof rails 15 and 17 andjbase board 16, so that when said rails andbase board are inI their respective positions, the,y endsof rail15 will occupy grooves 11. j 'llhe endsof rail 17 will yoccupy slots-,14, `and the ends o f basefboard 16 will rest in" slots12 yof the adjacent posts.` j In order4 to placethe rails or base board in position, one end ofl the rail -orbaseboard is inserted in the corresponding slot of one of the posts with therail or base board occupying an oblique position, as shown in dotted lines in Figures 3 and 5. The insertion of the ends of the fence members into vtheir respective slots at an angle is made possible by the divergent walls of said slots. The slots are ofk sufficient length to permit the insertionof the railfor base'board a proper distance therein so that the opposite end of said 4rail or base board clears its corresponding fence post and can be brought into alinement'v with its respective slot in said post. The rail or in End base board is then moved longitudinally so as to seat this end of the rail or base board in its respective slot.

To prevent the accidental longitudinal movement of rails and their displacement from the slots in the posts, blocks 18 are nailed to rails 15 and 17 and abutting each post, whereby said blocks will serve as stops to prevent the longitudinal movement of said rails.

The base board 16 is held against longitudinal movement by a watershed 19 nailed to the top thereof and having its ends abutting the sides of the adjacent posts. l/Vhen a picket fence is desired, pickets or pales are nailed to rails 15 and 17 at spaced intervals, the lower ends of said pickets terminating above the watershed 19.

When it is desired to build a board fence, boards 21 are nailed to rails 15 and 17, in which case blocks 18 and watershed 19 are dispensed with, the outermost boards being placed against the sides of the posts and preventing the longitudinal movement of the rails, while the lower ends of said boards rest on base board 16.

1n order to remove a section of the fence, blocks 18 are detached from rails 17 and 15, if a picket fence is used; or the outermost vmembers are removed, when a board fence is used. Rails 15 and 17 are then slid longitudinally, thereby freeing or unseating one end of the rails 15 and 17 from. groove 11 and slot 14. The fence section is then shifted obliquely to bring the free ends of yrails 15 and 17 out of alinement with their corresponding post 10, after which the fence section is moved forwardly so as to unseat the opposite ends of rails 15 and 17 from groove 11 and slots 12 and 14.

To close an opening in the fence, base board 16 is first slid into its position and then the fence sections comprising the rails 15 and 17 and pickets 20, or boards 21, as the case may be, are placed in position, the ends of rails 15 and 17 yoccupying grooves 11 and slots 14, respectively, and blocks 18 or the detached members 21 are then replaced in order to prevent the displacement of the fence section.

By the use of my improved fence, any one of the sections can be easily and quickly removed to afford a passageway therethrough, or, for the purpose of repairs, can

be readily replaced without destroying or 1- damaging the fence or any portion thereof.

My improved fence can be readily built without requiring a great amount of time or labor, and can be easily maintained in proper condition.

What I claim is:

1. In a fence, posts provided with horizontally disposed seats, the side walls of which are divergent, and longitudinal rails, the lengths of which are less than the distance from the center of one post to the adjacent side of the next post to permit said rails to be placed in position, substantially as described.

2. ln a fence, posts provided with hori- Zontally disposed seats, and a longitudinal rail adapted to have its ends seated in said seats, the length of said rail being greater than the distance between the adjacent sides of the posts, the seats in said posts being provided with divergent walls to permit said rail to be placed in posit-ion, substantially as described.

3. A fence comprising posts provided with slots having divergent side walls, and longitudinal rails adapted to have their ends seated in said slots, the lengths of said rails being greater than the distance between adjacent posts, and less than the distance from the center of one post to the adjacent side of the next post to permit said rails to be placed in position, substantially as described.

l. A fence comprising posts provided with slots having divergent side walls, longitudinal rails adapted to have their ends seated in said slots, the lengths of said rails being greater than the distance between adjacent posts, and less than the distance from the center of one post to the adjacent side of the next post to permit said rails to be placed in position, and means on said rails forpreventing the displacement of said rails.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aix my signature this 14th dav of April, 1921.

i JOSEPH E. LOEFFLER. 

